"Unsurprisingly after such consistent output, they exhibit a robust ensemble concept which avoids emphasis on solo episodes, mashes influences together and challenges convention."All About Jazz, John Sharpe

"Ultimately one of the best piano trio albums heard lately."All About Jazz, Alberto Bazzurro

"This is the trio at its best, with detailed game, a compelling piano, strong rock-like injections, stillness and a heavy climax."de Standaard, kvk

"This is no longer the search for a coherent vision, but further refinement and extension, and that at an unusually high levels."Enola.be

""Again and again, you can marvel at the beautiful melodies and equally stunning and witty discoveries that emerge from the exploration. This album is a perfect example of how musicians can be stubborn and yet very good listeners.""Trouw, Mischa Andriessen

""Every moment is speaking. It thus moves from moment to moment, with great bonding force and tactile consistency. Every moment has its context, which again raises new momentum that unfolds.""Written in music, Henning Bolte

""The collective idiom is as fluis as water itself. The
members of De Beren Gieren have a remarkable
collective process, their music advancing as a
continuous melodic flow passed back and forth among
the members. These musicians may not yet be widely known, but are already producing memorable, original work.""New York City Jazz Record

""this band gives us a fascinating and unique musical vision, that's kept throughout the album with great coherence, and with lots of variation in the different pieces. Light-hearted, adventurous, welcoming and beautiful""Free Jazz Blog, Stef

"Their second CD, a raveling, is a lot more mature than their noticed debut wirklich Welt so.
Moreover, the rhythmic and melodic complexity does not restrain the joyfull playing and listening. A raveling is very exciting, often funny and heartwarming, from the beginning till the end."De Morgen, Didier Wijnants

"[...] adventurous and daring. It often surprises, it always attractes"Le soir, VANTROYEN,JEAN-CLAUDE

"De Beren Gieren continue to refine their unique blend of jazz, rock and classical music. [...] They often make great music full of self-questioning, humor and edge."De Standaard, Karel van Keymeulen

"The nice thing about the compositions on a raveling is that the band combines different styles, without any trouble and a kind of nonchalance, therefore the music never feels forced or nervous. [...] often the experimental genre just irritates, but this is completely different in case of de Beren Gieren."De Wereld Morgen, Koen De Meester

"In addition to the brutal, conventionless attitude, which puts hip hop, classical mussic and rock next to jazz, we can hear mostly rock-solid compositions on their second official album. Dutch pianist Fulco Ottervanger has a creative mind and uses improvisation as unconditional basis for accessible beats and themes. De Beren Gieren creates jazz that makes us cheerful: high level and with a cool openmindedness."De Volkskrant, Tim Sprangers

"wirklich Welt so is a strong debut that will be the first chapter of a fascinating story."www.enola.com, Guy Peters

"There is concrete mixing, cutting and scraping, but also polishing, shining and carressing. The result is a bridge between the Guggenheim in Bilbao and a treehouse.
Full of splinters and loose ends rope, but also with beautiful curves and unexpected coves."KnackFocus, Bart Cornand

"These three gentlemen do not avoid a joke and are slightly subversive. That attitude makes quite exciting music."De Standaard, Karel Van Keymeulen

"They dosing at the appropriate time and creating sharp contrasts, for example between neurotic atmospheres and a lighter interlude. Experiment is coupled with smooth melodies. Never non-committal but always ambiguous."Jazzmozaïek, Georges Tonla Briquet

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Info

Fulco Ottervanger - piano

Fulco Ottervanger is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer & improvisor. He has been writing, recording and performing songs & compositions since his early youth. He studied jazz piano & contemporary classical composition at the Conservatory of Ghent. His main projects are De Beren Gieren, krautpop band STADT and drums/keyboard duo BeraadGeslagen. He is also engaged in theatre & dance projects.

Lieven Van Pée - bass

Lieven Van Pée has been triggered by a great variety of music before he starts playing bass at the age of 16. At the Jazzstudio in Antwerp he gets more focused on playing jazz & improvised music through the teachings of Cedric Waeterschoot and Bas Cooymans. Later on he refines his playing by studying with Stefan Lievestro at the Conservatory of Ghent. There he teams up with Simon and Fulco to found De Beren Gieren.

Besides playing in a lot of jazz and impro groups, such as Moker and John Ghost, he always challenges himself to search for new music, especially by composing electronic music.

Simon Segers - drums

Simon has been intrigued by music from as long as he can remember. The record collection of his father was a great artifact to learn to listen to all kinds of music. Where his dad was a great influence to listen, it was his older brother (guitarist Frederik Segers) that made him play the drums. From the early teenage years, they play together in all kinds of projects where Simon developed great love for long & profound coöperations.

The band and the music it produces is the most important thing to Simon. There's no style of music that he dislikes. The last few years he has been active in both rock and jazz formations in which he always leaves his personal mark. The jazztrio De Beren Gieren and the rockband STADT are his personal projects in which he participates the most as a creator of music. He also plays with Absynthe Minded.

Bio

In the space between expectation and surprise, you will find De Beren Gieren, providing robust evidence that gold can still be mined from the union of piano, bass and drums. Based on the compositions of pianist Fulco Ottervanger, the trio uses the power of improvisation on the quest for a new form. They are known for their unique energetic sound, sparkling melodies, complex structures and quirky song titles. They bring a blend of polyrhythmic soundscapes, sing-alongs and elitist twists, showing an ability to change mood quite suddenly in a way that constantly holds one's attention. A live experience not to be missed!

The band was formed in 2009. Their 2nd album a raveling (2013) has been widely praised and resulted in the group's international breakthrough. A recording of the concert in Ljublljana with Portuguese trumpeter Susana Santos Silva was released as the critically acclaimed The Detour Fish (2014) on leading record label Clean Feed. Their 3rd trio album One Mirrors Many saw the light in 2015 on the same label and includes self-made electronics. Jazzism marked the album as most influential album of the year. In September 2017 they release 'Dug Out Skyscrapers' on a hot new Belgian label, Sdban.

Besides the collaboration with Susana Santos Silva, De Beren Gieren have also collaborated with other internationally renowned musicians such as Marc Ribot, Joachim Badenhorst, Louis Sclavis, Jean-Yves Evrard, Jan Klare and Ernst Rijeseger. They played at major festivals such as Trondheim Jazzfest, North Sea Jazz, Ljubljana Jazz and Jazz Middelheim. De Beren Gieren are going for it full blast and their name starts to ring a bell amongst music lovers all over. The group has won several prizes and are invited to play all around Europe and abroad. What might come in the future of these young talents it is only to be seen.

DUG OUT SKYSCRAPERS

Better than anyone else, De Beren Gieren know how to blend an avant-garde sound with melodious pieces and references to the great classical composers of the 20th century. They effortlessly shift from more rigidly styled compositions to improvised sections and thus reveal the pulsating and ominous futuristic sound of a new world.

More so than in previous albums, on “Dug Out Skyscrapers” (Sdban) harmonies and compelling grooves interact and disclose the future of the past… the album’s ‘Leitmotif’. Like dedicated archaeologists from the future, De Beren Gieren use subtle electronic effects to uncover the potential of their acoustic instruments layer by layer. The piano echoes further, the drums split up into even more numerous fragments and the bass reaches deeper still into its musical universe.

The compositions take on a 3D-dimension in this acoustic view-master and haul the listener from recognition to renewal, from nostalgia to exaltation.